Single-cell immune landscape of measurable residual disease in acute myeloid leukemia

• Published in: Science China. Life sciences 2024-11, Vol.67 (11), p.2309-2322
• Main Authors: Mo, Xiaodong, Zhang, Weilong, Fu, Guomei, Chang, Yingjun, Zhang, Xiaohui, Xu, Lanping, Wang, Yu, Yan, Chenhua, Shen, Mengzhu, Wei, Qiuxia, Yan, Changjian, Huang, Xiaojun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biomedical and Life Sciences; Life Sciences; Research Paper
• ISSN: 1674-7305; 1869-1889; 1869-1889
• DOI: 10.1007/s11427-024-2666-8

Measurable residual disease (MRD) is a powerful prognostic factor of relapse in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). We applied the single-cell RNA sequencing to bone marrow (BM) samples from patients with ( n =20) and without ( n =12) MRD after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. A comprehensive immune landscape with 184,231 cells was created. Compared with CD8 + T cells enriched in the MRD-negative group (MRD−_CD8), those enriched in the MRD-positive group (MRD+_CD8) showed lower expression levels of cytotoxicity-related genes. Three monocyte clusters (i.e., MRD+_M) and three B-cell clusters (i.e., MRD+_B) were enriched in the MRD-positive group. Conversion from an MRD-positive state to an MRD-negative state was accompanied by an increase in MRD−_CD8 clusters and vice versa. MRD-enriched cell clusters employed the macrophage migration inhibitory factor pathway to regulate MRD−_CD8 clusters. These findings revealed the characteristics of the immune cell landscape in MRD positivity, which will allow for a better understanding of the immune mechanisms for MRD conversion.